Shrewsbury Town’s Assistant Manager Chris Doig is hopeful that the squads’ warm weather training camp in Portugal will prove its worth in the coming.
Town spent a week in the Algarve training three times a day, before playing Ebbsfleet in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
“It was a very good week”, Chris said.
“It was a long week I must admit. It sounds fun, but it was a real graft at times. The lads worked very hard, but I think everyone enjoyed it.
“It was great to get everyone away together. It would have been nice to have had a couple more, but it was great to have the lads we had together, bonding all the time and they seemed to get on really well.
“It was great for the new boys and a few came out of their shells. It was just a good trip and we got everything we wanted out of it, so hopefully it will prove its worth as the season goes on.”
The lads worked hard during their week in Portugal, but Chris made no apologies for the hard graft.
“We work them hard”, admitted Doig.
“I was a big believer as a player in wanting to work hard. I think the benefits are there if you put it in and there are no complaints with the lads on that side.
“They gave us everything and we did work them hard, but I think they enjoyed it and I think they wanted that. There was no moans and groans, even Junior smiled, so it must have been alright.”
The games are now set to come thick and fast with six pre-season friendlies taking place in the next three weeks, but Chris believes there will be no shortage of work going on away from the matches as well.
“We’re into the games side of it now, which I think the lads will obviously be relishing and wanting to do”, said Chris.
“It will still be hard, but I think the main graft is out of the way now and they are back to doing what they want to do and that’s playing football.
“We have an outline of what we want to do throughout the season and a certain volume that we expect the lads to be doing week in week out, so that’s not going chance.
“That’s the route we believe in and that’s the route we will be taking, so they will be working hard and the lads that maybe don’t play will be getting topped up, so there will be no taking the foot off the pedal at this stage certainly.”